AU778227B2

AU778227B2 - Menstrual cycle calculation method and system

Info

Publication number: AU778227B2
Application number: AU24877/01A
Authority: AU
Inventors: David Singh
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2000-03-06
Filing date: 2001-03-06
Publication date: 2004-11-25
Anticipated expiration: 2021-03-06
Also published as: AU2487701A

Description

P/00/0011 Regulation 3.2

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION FOR A STANDARD PATENT

ORIGINAL

Name of Applicant: Actual Inventor: Address for service in Australia: Invention Title: DAVID SINGH DAVID SINGH Freehills Carter Smith Beadle 101 Collins Street Melbourne Victoria 3000 Australia MENSTRUAL CYCLE CALCULATION METHOD AND SYSTEM Details ofAssociated Provisional Application: Australian Provisional Patent Application No PQ6029 filed 6 March 2000 The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to us 2 MENSTRUAL CYCLE CALCULATION METHOD AND SYSTEM The present invention relates generally to methods and systems for calculating future withdrawal bleeding dates, or periods, of a menstrual cycle, and in particular to methods and systems of this type which are performed on or with the aid of personal computers or other data processing apparatus.

The present invention is suitable for use in applications relating to the administration of oral contraceptive pills, and it will be convenient to describe the invention in relation to that exemplary, non limiting application.

The oral contraceptive pill has been in use for over forty years. It is estimated that 1.2 million Australian women use the oral contraceptive pill on a regular basis to prevent conception. The oral contraceptive pills are usually taken daily at the same time each day. If they are taken as directed, an artificial menstrual cycle ensues which comprises 21 days during which "active" pills are taken and 7 days during which the withdrawal bleeding or periods occur. One type of oral oo contraceptive pill packets contain "inactive" pills which are taken during the 7 day withdrawal bleeding interval to reinforce the process of taking the pill every day.

20 Other types of pill packets contain only 21 "active" pills. When a user has finished the pack, no pills are taken during a 7 day interval, and a new pack is commenced .oo.oi on the same day of the week as the last pill taken. The pills are usually arranged in a strip sequentially and each pill is clearly marked by the day on which it should be taken. An arrow marked on the packet points in the direction in which the next pill 25 should be used.

Whilst the oral contraceptive pill is efficient in the prevention of conception, there exists a need for users to be able to simply and accurately predict future menstrual cycles so that a regular supply of contraceptive pills is maintained at hand. It would also be desirable to provide a simple and convenient manner of ordering regular supplies of contraceptive pills or like products.

RNM:DL:40434984 cap 6 March 2001 3 The aim of the invention is therefore to provide a menstrual cycle calculation method and system which alleviates or overcomes one or more problems of known methods and systems of this type.

One aspect of the present invention provides a method of calculating a menstrual cycle of a user on or with the aid of a data processing apparatus, said data processing apparatus comprising: a central controller including a CPU and a memory operatively connected to said CPU, user control means, and display means, said user control means and said user display means being adapted for communicating with said central controller, the method comprising the steps of: displaying on said display means a graphical representation of a series of contraceptive products to be used by the user during a current menstrual cycle, using said user control means to select a users current temporal position during said current menstrual cycle, calculating in said central controller one or more future menstrual .i 20 cycles based upon said selected temporal position, and displaying on said display means information representative of said ooooo one or more future menstrual cycles.

In step one of the graphically representative contraceptive products corresponding to said users current temporal position within said current menstrual cycle may be selected.

Alternatively, in step the day on which a first of said series of contraceptive products will be used may be selected.

The contraceptive products may be oral contraceptive pills. The graphical RNM:DL:40434984 cap 6 March 2001 representation may comprise a sequentially arranged series of contraceptive pills.

The graphical representation may further comprise a representation of the day of the week on which one or more of said contraceptive pills are to be taken by the user.

The graphical representation may further comprise an indication of selected contraceptive pills corresponding to a current day of the week.

Step may include displaying a calendar indicating a commencement date of said one or more future menstrual cycles.

The method may further include the step of calculating in said central controller a suggested deliver date prior to the end of said current or future menstrual cycles.

The method may further include the step of: requesting by said user control means the delivery of supplies of said contraceptive products on said delivery date.

The method may further include the steps of: V requesting by said user control means that a reminder be transmitted to said user a predetermined time prior to the end of said menstrual cycle, and subsequently transmitting said reminder.

In one embodiment of the invention, the user control means and display S° means may be remotely connected to said central controller by a computer network such as the Internet.

25 In another embodiment, the user control means, display means and central controller may be housed within a single computer.

Another aspect of the invention provides a data processing apparatus for calculating the menstrual cycle of a user, comprising: a central controller including a CPU and a memory operatively connected to said CPU, RNM:DL:40434984 cap 6 March 2001 user control means, and display means, said user control means and said display means being adapted for communicating with said central controller, said memory in said central controller containing a program, adapted to be executed by said CPU, for displaying on said display means a graphical representation of a series of contraceptive products to be used by the user during a current menstrual cycle, receiving control signals from said user control means indicative of the users selected current temporal position during said menstrual cycle, calculating said central controller one or more future menstrual cycles based upon said selected temporal position, and displaying on said display means information representative of said one or more future menstrual cycles.

A further aspect of the present invention provides a computer program element for a data processing apparatus for calculating a menstrual cycle of a user, said data processing apparatus comprising a central controller including a CPU and :°oooo a memory containing said computer program element and being operatively :°oooo connected to said CPU, user control means, and S 20 display means, said user control means and said display means being adapted for communicating with said central controller, ooooo wherein said computer program element comprises computer program code means for: displaying on said display means a graphical representation of a series of contraceptive products to be used by the user during a current menstrual cycle, receiving control signals from said user control means indicative of the user selected current temporal position during said current menstrual cycle, calculating in said central controller one or more future menstrual cycles based upon said selected temporal position, and displaying on said display means information representative of said one or more future menstrual cycles.

RNM:DL:40434984 cap 6 March 2001 6 For assistance at arriving at an understanding of the present invention, one example of a data processing apparatus and method of calculating a menstrual cycle of a user is illustrated in the accompanying drawings. The preceding description of the invention may read with reference to those drawings. However, as the drawings illustrate one example only, their particularity is not to be understood as superseding the generality of the preceding description.

In the drawings: Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a computer network including a data processing apparatus according to one aspect of the present invention; Figure 2 is a schematic flow chart illustrating one embodiment of a method of calculating a menstrual cycle of a user according to the present invention; and Figures 3 to 5 are schematic diagrams illustrating information displayed on the display means of the data processing apparatus of Figure 1 during the performance of the method shown in Figure 2.

o Referring now to Figure 1, there is shown generally a computer network 1 including Internet Service Providers 2 and 3, interconnected by a series of telephony exchanges, represented in this figure by backbone service providers 4 and 5. The computer network 1 shown in Figure 1 is commonly known as the Internet.

Personal computers 6, 7 and 8 are connected to the Internet Service Provider 2 via modems. Similarly, personal computers 9, 10 and 11 are connected to the Internet Service Provider 3 via modems. Each of the personal computers 6 to 11 includes user control means, such as a keyboard 12 and mouse 13, and display means 14.

Each Internet Service Provider 2, 3 includes a central processing unit or CPU, such as that referenced 15 in the Internet Service Provider 2, and a memory, such as that referenced 16 in the Internet Service Provider 2, operatively connected to the CPU. The memory stores a computer program element comprising computer program code for causing the CPU to execute a series of functions. The memory RNM:DL:40434984 cap 6 March 2001 also contains a data storage area for the temporary and/or permanent storage of data required by the CPU to perform programmed operations.

In such a computer network, control signals generated by one or more of the personal computers 6 to 11 in response to the operation of the user control means 12, 13 are transmitted to one of the Internet Service Providers 2, 3. In response to the control signals, the CPU and memory means within the Internet Service Provider in question perform requested operations and return data and other information to the requesting personal computer. A computer program such as a World Wide Web (www) browser program may be installed in the transmitting personal computer so as to facilitate the sending of desired control signals and the receipt and display of information returned from the Internet Service Provider.

In one embodiment of the present invention, a computer program element is stored in the memory 16 of the Internet Service Provider 2 which comprises computer program code for performing a method of calculating a menstrual cycle of a user in conjunction with one or more of the personal computers 6 to 11. As can be seen in Figure 2, once communication is established between the personal computer 11 and the Internet Service Provider 2, the user is requested at step 20 to 20 select whether a 28 day or 21 day contraceptive pill packet is currently being used.

The user may also be requested to enter or select other related information, such as .55.55 the brand of the contraceptive pill and the number of contraceptive pill packets normally supplied in a single container or box. In response to these selections, the computer program code stored in the memory 16 of the Internet Service Provider 2 causes the CPU 15 to return to the personal computer 11 information which is displayed by the www browser installed in the personal computer 11 Ion the display means 14. An example of the manner in which this information is displayed is shown in Figure 3. When the user has selected the use of a 28 day contraceptive pill packet in step 20, the display will include at step 21 a graphical representation 51 of a 28-day pill packet. The graphical representation 51 includes a representation of the 28 oral contraceptive pills or other contraceptive products to RNM:DL:40434984 cap 6 March 2001 8 be taken during the current menstrual cycle, arranged in a series corresponding to the order in which the pills are to be taken. The representation 51 also includes a representation of the day of the week on which one or more of the contraceptive pills are to be taken by the user. In this case, the letter displayed next to 4 of the representations of contraceptive pills indicates to the user that these pills are to be taken on Sundays during the current menstrual cycle.

The graphical display 51 may also comprise an indication of selected contraceptive pills corresponding to a current day of the week. For example, if the current day of the week is Sunday, visually discernible symbols 52 to 55 may be provided to indicate to the user that the contraceptive pill to be taken by that user on that current day is one of the 4 pills indicated at step 22.

The user is then required at step 23 to select the users current temporal position during the current menstrual cycle by selecting the pill (of the 4 indicated by the display elements 52 to 55) due to be taken at the present day. The selection

.OO.

may be made by movement of the mouse 13 so as to position a curser over the representation of the selected pill and by depressing a switch associated with the mouse 13. Based on the users choice of the particular pill, and the transmission of .i 20 this information to the Internet Service Provider 2, the computer program in the memory 16, in conjunction with the CPU 15, recognises the users current temporal ooolo position within the current temporal cycle and calculates future menstrual cycles based on the assumption that the user will continue to take the contraceptive pills as directed and will therefore experience regular withdrawal bleeding cycles. This 25 calculation takes place at step 24.

a--For example, if the current day of the week is Saturday, and the user is seven o0 days into her current menstrual cycle, the user will select the graphical representation of the pill referenced 52. The program stored in the memory 16 will calculate that the next period will be due in 21 days time (28 day cycle minus 7 days into current menstrual cycle). Future menstrual cycles are calculated by adding 28 RNM:DL:40434984 cap 6 March 2001 9 days to the commencement date for the preceding menstrual cycle.

At step 25, information representative of one or more future menstrual cycles is displayed on the display means 14. For example, the commencement date of one or more futural menstrual cycles may be indicated in display window 53, 54 and The user is therefore able to simply and conveniently be provided with accurate information relating to current and future menstrual cycles.

If at step 20 the user were to have indicated that a 21-day contraceptive pill packet was currently being used, a different graphical representation of the series of contraceptive pills to be used may be provided. One example of such an alternative graphical representation is shown in Figure 4. The graphical representation 70 in this figure only displays graphical representations of the 21 active pills to be taken during each current menstrual cycle (step 26).

As previously described, the user may select her current temporal position during a current menstrual cycle by selecting a particular contraceptive pill to be taken that day. Alternatively, if no contraceptive pill is to be taken during that :"current day (because the user is currently in the 7 day interval during which no contraceptive pills are taken), the user may select the day on which a first of the series of contraceptive pills will be used. For example, a drop down window 71 may be provided for the user to select a particular day of the week on which she will be starting the new pill packet (step 27). If the user chooses this option and nominates one of the 7 days of the week, that day is used as day 1 of a 28 day cycle.

For example, if the current day of the week is Monday and the user indicates that they are due to start a new pack of 21 day pills on Wednesday, the next period will be due in 23 days (21 plus 2) from the current date.

Once again, information representative of one or more future menstrual cycles may be displayed on display means 14 in windows 72 to 74.

RNM:DL:40434984 cap 6 March 2001 Conveniently, the program stored in the memory 16 of the Internet Service Provider 2 may enable the user to request the display of a calendar indicating a commencement date of one or more future menstrual cycles. For example, a graphical button 56 may be provided on the display shown in Figure 3 (referenced 75 in Figure the selection of which at step 28 causes the program stored in the memory 16 and the CPU 15 to have displayed on the display means 14 a calendar, as shown in Figure 5 (step 29). Visual indications 80 to 82 may be provided on this calendar to indicate the commencement dates of one or more future menstrual cycles (step In order to ensure that a regular supply of contraceptive pills are available to a user, the computer program stored in the Internet Service Provider 2 may calculate suggested delivery date prior to the end of a current or future menstrual cycle for the delivery of one or more packets of contraceptive pills. The date of commencement of the pill will vary according to the type of pill packet currently being used by the user. The 28 day pill version requires a user to always start on the "inactive" pills on the day of the first period. However, 21 day pill versions require the user to start the new pill packet on the fifth day of the period. The suggested delivery dates are S "therefore calculated at step 31 based on: the starting date for the new pack this is personalised for each user based on the data input by the user as to the particular brand of the pill and the temporal position of the user during the current menstrual cycle, how much supply is left some pill packs have up to 4 months supply based on the customers input the date when the next supply is due will be calculated, and the time taken for prescriptions to be mailed and supplies to be dispensed and shipped to the user.

In accordance with these criteria, the suggested shipping dates are displayed on the graphical display of Figure 3 in windows 57 to 59. The corresponding display windows in Figure 4 are referenced 76 to 78.

RNM:DL:40434984 cap 6 March 2001 Once the suggested delivery dates have been displayed at step 32, the user may choose to request the delivery of supplies of the contraceptive pills on the suggested delivery dates by actioning the graphical representation of an order button 60 in Figure 3. The corresponding order button in Figure 4 is referenced 79.

Actioning of this button causes the computer program in the Internet Service Provider 2 to transmit to the personal computer 11 for display on the display means 14 an order form (step 34). The user is able to enter her credit card details at step and transmit this information to the Internet Service Provider 2 at step 36.

Alternatively, the user may complete the customer details on the order form at step 37 and then subsequently print and transmit by facsimile or other means, the completed order form to a company or other organisation associated with the Internet Service Provider 2.

Moreover, the computer program of the Internet Service Provider 2 may request that a reminder be transmitted to them a predetermined time prior to the end of a current or future menstrual cycle. A graphical representation of an email reminder button 61 may be provided in Figure 3 (the corresponding email reminder button in Figure 4 is referenced 80), which, if actioned by the user at step 39 enables a user to enter at step 40 a notice period prior to the end of a menstrual cycle which then determines the dates at which the reminders will be transmitted to the user. When these dates fall due at step 41, an email message or other form of reminder is transmitted to the user at step 42.

Alternatively, suggested dates at which email reminders are to be sent may be displayed in additional display windows on the graphical display of Figures 3 and 4. The user may be able to directly enter a date or dates at which she wishes to receive email, facsimile or other like reminders prior to the commencement of their next menstrual cycle.

Finally, it is to be understood that various modifications and/or additions may be made to the method, data processing apparatus and/or computer program element without departing from the ambit of the present invention. For example, whilst the present invention has been described in relation to a data processing RNM:DL:40434984 cap 6 March 2001 apparatus in which the user control means and display means are remotely connected to a central controller or Internet Service Provider by a computer network such as the Internet, in other embodiments of the invention the user control means, display means and central controller may be housed in a single computer.

Moreover, the data processing apparatus can be easily adapted to generate a reminder, such as an e-mail or an entry in an electronic calendar, to visit the user's doctor in time to be provided with a new prescription for the contraceptive pill. For example, the computer program element may ask the user to indicate the contraceptive pill they are due to take on any given day, and how many month's supply of the contraceptive pill remain. The computer program element will then automatically schedule a doctor's visit by generation of a reminder as described above.

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Claims

1. A method of calculating a menstrual cycle of a user on or with the aid of a data processing apparatus, said data processing apparatus comprising: a central controller including a CPU and a memory operatively connected to said CPU, user control means, and display means, said user control means and said user display means being adapted for communicating with said central controller, the method comprising the steps of: displaying on said display means a graphical representation of a series of contraceptive products to be used by the user during a current menstrual cycle, using said user control means to select a users current temporal position during said current menstrual cycle, calculating in said central controller one or more future menstrual cycles based upon said selected temporal position, and displaying on said display means information representative of said oooone or more future menstrual cycles.

2. A method according to claim 1, wherein in step one of the graphically representative contraceptive products corresponding to said users current temporal position within said current menstrual cycle is selected.

3. A method according to claim 1, wherein in step the day on which a first of said series of contraceptive products will be used may be selected.

4. A method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the graphical representation comprises a representation of a sequentially arranged series of contraceptive pills. A method according to claim 4, wherein the graphical representation further RNM:DL:40434984 cap 6 March 2001 VC~~Nilr~ 14 comprises a representation of the day of the week on which one or more of said contraceptive pills are to be taken by the user.

6. A method according to either one of claims 4 or 5, wherein the graphical representation further comprises an indication of selected contraceptive pills corresponding to a current day of the week.

7. A method according to anyone of the preceding claims, wherein step includes displaying a calendar indicating a commencement date of said one or more future menstrual cycles.

8. A method according to anyone of the preceding claims and further including the step of: calculating in said central controller a suggested delivery date prior to the end of said current or future menstrual cycles.

9. A method according to claim 8, and further including the step of: requesting by said user control means the delivery of supplies of said contraceptive products on said delivery date.

10. A method according to claim 9, and further including the steps of: requesting by said user control means that a reminder be transmitted to said user a predetermined time prior to the end of said menstrual cycle, and o• subsequently transmitting said reminder. 20 11. A method according to anyone of the preceding claims, wherein the user control S: means and display means are remotely connected to said central controller by a computer network such as the Internet. o*.i

13. A data processing apparatus for calculating the menstrual cycle of a user, comprising: a central controller including a CPU and a memory operatively connected to said CPU, user control means, and display means, said user control means and said display means being adapted for communicating with said central controller, said memory in said central controller containing a program, adapted to be executed by said CPU, for displaying on said display means a graphical representation of a series of contraceptive products to be used by the user during a current menstrual cycle, receiving control signals from said user control means indicative of the users selected current temporal position during said menstrual cycle, calculating in said central controller one or more future menstrual cycles based upon said selected temporal position, and displaying on said display means information representative of said one or more future menstrual cycles. i:°14. A computer program element for a data processing apparatus for calculating a menstrual cycle of a user, said data processing apparatus comprising a central controller S.:i including a CPU and a memory containing said computer program element and being 0 20 operatively connected to said CPU, S-user control means, and eve. display means, said user control means and said display means being adapted for o.00.: communicating with said central controller, *ooo IIV- 16 wherein said computer program element comprises computer program code means for: displaying on said display means a graphical representation of a series of contraceptive products to be used by the user during a current menstrual cycle, receiving control signals from said user control means indicative of the user selected current temporal position during said current menstrual cycle, calculating in said central controller one or more future menstrual cycles based upon said selected temporal position, and displaying on said display means information representative of said one or more future menstrual cycles. A method of calculating a menstrual cycle of a user having the steps substantially as hereinbefore described.

16. An apparatus for calculating the menstrual cycle of a user substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings. David Singh By Freehills Carter Smith Beadle Registered Patent Attorney for the Applicant September 2004 o *To *••oo